Faculty crisis to continue

ROSHAN KUMAR

Academics in universities in the state would continue to suffer owing to the scarcity of teachers and hurdles to fresh recruitment.

Raj Bhavan has not cleared the university statute under which teachers would have been recruited and second, the education department’s stopgap arrangement of hiring National Eligibility Test (NET) qualified candidates and PhD holders for teaching university students is stuck.

This year, the education department, to improve academics in the universities and to fill the gap of qualified teachers, mooted a plan under which services of NET-qualified candidates or those who completed PhD according to the 2009 Munglekar committee guidelines were to be given teaching jobs at universities on contract basis. The proposal was a stop-gap measure, as after the appointment of regular teachers through the Bihar Public Service Commission, the services of contract teachers would terminate. The plan was drawn up according to the University Grants Commission directive but the process is yet to start.

Anup Kumar Sinha, deputy director, education, said: “Our department has prepared and sent the proposal to the finance department for approval. As the recruitment of part-time teachers to be appointed on contract basis involves finance, the nod of the finance department is essential.”

Once, the finance department gives its nod, the educational department proposal would be sent to the cabinet co-ordination committee for passage. Thereafter, the respective universities would recruit NET-qualified and PhD holder candidates for Rs 1,000 per class with a maximum of 25 classes a month.